1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a connectors used for making electrical connection in, for example, automobiles.
2. Prior Art
FIG. 6 is a perspective view with a cutaway view in part showing a prior art connector. In the figure, a connector a has a plurality of terminals d and a housing c made of synthetic resin for housing the terminals d. The terminals d have the tip end portions d1 bent at right angles and the other end portions connected with wires e. The tip end portions d1 are formed with projections d2 thereon. The housing c is molded to house both the terminals and the wires in one piece structure. Equipment b has terminals f having tip end portions f1 bent at right angles. The portions f1 are welded to projections d2 that facilitate effective projection welding between the end portions f1 of terminals f and the end portion d1. Welding the portions f1 to the projections d2 provides signal paths for electrical signals between the connector a and the equipment b. The housing c has fastening projections c1 projecting therefrom such that the connector a is assembled to the casing g of the equipment b.
Before molding the aformentioned terminals and housing together, the terminals d having the projections d2 are first formed with the projections d2 thereon and are then bent at right angles to form the tip end portions d1. Then, the wires e are connected to the other end portions of the terminals d. Then, the housing c is molded to house both the terminals and the wires in one piece structure with all the tip end portions d1 lined up. The, the terminals d are welded at the end portions d1 to the tip end portions f of the equipment b. It should be noted that the connector housing c is molded with the wires connected with the terminals. Therefore, the cover of the wire has to be highly heat resistive and therefore is expensive.
Molding the housing c in one piece construction with a plurality of terminals enables the terminals to be accurately aligned in a line. Meanwhile, the terminals f are often not quite accurately aligned; some are little too far from the housing b and some are little too close to the housing b. Therefore, the terminals d may not always be in contact with corresponding terminals f when the connector is assembled to the casing g. Thus, individual tailoring is required to align the distances of terminals f projecting from the housing before the terminals d are welded to the terminals f so as to ensure that each of the terminals d is properly in contact with corresponding terminal f. This alignment operation is time consuming.